Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

People are complicated. Love is not.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Books are my comfort food!

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Five Ps: Calendar Pet Pics, Voting Plan Illustrations, Mandy Patinkin, Programming Note, Pissed Off

Five Ps: Calendar Pet Pics, Voting Plan Illustrations, Mandy Patinkin, Programming Note, Pissed Off

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This post is in: ,

2021 Pet Calendar Deadlines are Coming Up!

All the details are at the link.

Five Ps: Calendar Pet Pics, Voting Plan Illustrations, Mandy Patinkin, Programming Note, Pissed Off 1
This is my kitty soulmate Quiver, in 2010

Programming Note – Pete Souza’s documentary, The Way I See It

Aired last night on TV on MSNBC, but it shows a few more times this week.

Mandy Patinkin’s – Last Weekends

With only 2 weekends left, you can still make a difference!  Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody are calling on you to volunteer at least 3 hours for the next 2 weekends—#TheLastWeekends before the 2020 election—to turn out voters and make sure we defeat Trump and get Democrats elected up and down the ballot.

Join Mandy and Kathryn now at thelastweekends.org/doit.

Balloon Juice Voting Plan Illustrations

Maze Dancer has illustrated 192 Voting Plans for individual BJ peeps, and I think they are all different.  You can find them all at the link.

If you’re on twitter, please think about posting your voting plan, or even about posting someone else’s!  It doesn’t take much time and might inspire someone who doesn’t yet have a voting plan to get their act together.

Pissed Off – Ohio Company Contracts to Print Mail-in Ballots for counties OH and PA, and It’s Not Good

New York Times story about an Ohio company that got the contract to print mail-in ballots for counties in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Owned by Trump supporters. Late sending ballots; also sent ballots to wrong addresses.

Reader Interactions

107Comments

  1. 1.

    cain

    Ugh, I have pictures, but they aren’t the best – but it’s really hard to photograph kittens – they leap around at the slightest sound. Not exactly the most calming subjects. Plus they need to figure out how to clean themselves.. silly kids.

  2. 2.

    PsiFighter37

    Feeling good about how things are going. I know the statheads are poo-poohing the early vote numbers, but I think voter engagement is far higher than it has ever been, and while there is no doubt some of the Election Day votes are being cannibalized, I think we are locking in a TON of low-info / usually un-engaged votes ahead of time. Texas in particular is making me very optimistic. Also hoping that David Perdue just shot himself in the foot yesterday by deciding that mocking Kamala’s name was a good idea. What a fucking moron, especially for someone who used to work for an Indian company.

  7. 7.

    Yutsano

    @PsiFighter37:  There isn’t a huge South Asian population in Georgia, but it might be enough to nibble at the margins. It’s very much a we’ll have to see situation, but he also insulted the Black population, which is much larger. So yeah, he might have punched his own dick here. And I already know Osoff is going to make hay out of this. I saw a clip of him yesterday reacting to this (I’ll try to find it) and he was visibly disgusted.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    DiFi not gaining popularity.

    NARAL Pro-Choice America called for Democratic California Sen. Dianne Feinstein to step down as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee following Feinstein’s comments at the conclusion of a hearing over Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

    NARAL President Ilyse Hogue said in a statement that the nomination process is “a sham” and that Americans want the next president to be the one to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

    “Amy Barrett and this power grab pose a grave threat to every freedom and right we hold dear and tears the very fabric of our democracy. Americans–whose lives hang in the balance–deserve leadership that underscores how unprecedented, shameful and wrong this process is,” Hogue said in a statement. “The ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, failed to make this clear and in fact offered an appearance of credibility to the proceedings that is wildly out of step with the American people. As such, we believe the committee needs new leadership.”

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    I’m looking all over the place for dates/times of the next airings of the Souza documentary since I’m dumb and missed it last night.  Any thoughts here peeps?

  11. 11.

    debbie

    Once again, all ratfuckery leads back to the GOP. They’re just not smart or slick enough in Ohio to carry it off.

  14. 14.

    Sab

    We early voted October 7 in Ohio. My stepson just got his absentee ballot yesterday ( Yay!) They were supposed to have been mailed the 6th. My Ohio sister stuck in California because of covid hasn’t gotten hers yet. We’re starting to womder whether her voted will be in time.

    I sure hope people remember this when Frank LaRose is up for re-election. Ohio has balanced county boards of election with half Democrats and half Republicans. The Secretary of State has the tie-breaking vote on things like who gets theprinting contract.

  16. 16.

    JMG

    1st day of Mass. early voting. It was drizzling and 44 degrees when I arrived at the town polling place three minutes before it opened and there was a line of 50 people. Now, my town is among the bluest in a very blue state, but still. One of the poll workers told me the town also had the highest percentage of mail-in ballot requests in the state and wondered if he’d have much to do on Election Day itself.
    PS: South Asian couple behind me were returning one of their mail ballots and asking for a do-over as man had inadvertently voted twice on the same referendum question and were afraid the whole thing would get chucked. Man was able to cast a new vote.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    Good rant from Kay in the previous thread on the ballot “situation” linked to up top:

    They were too lazy to do any due diligence and check out the contractor they hired to print and mail ballots. 

    Boards of Elections members in Ohio actually sign ballots in Ohio. When you get your ballot if has an imprint of the signatures of the Bds of Elections members in your county on the flip side, right. The buck stops with them. They didn’t think ballot printing and mailing was important enough to vet the contractor?

  19. 19.

    Ivan X

    My voting plan is that I registered and immediately voted yesterday in CA at the Santa Barbara County Elections Office. I feel awesome.

  21. 21.

    Crashman06

    Voted in Massachusetts today. First day of early voting about a half hour before they closed for the day. There were a good number of people there but no wait. Took great pleasure in voting against the Republican running against our congressional rep. While I doubt she has any chance to win, we got one of her mailers and it was almost comical inflammatory and offensive.

  23. 23.

    Sab

    I understand why Ohio has the rule that only relatives can drop off completed ballots. But it means you can’t drop off your unmarried partner’s ballot. If she works a twelve hour day she has to rely on the USPS to return it on time.

  25. 25.

    cain

    @PsiFighter37:

    Feeling good about how things are going. I know the statheads are poo-poohing the early vote numbers, but I think voter engagement is far higher than it has ever been, and while there is no doubt some of the Election Day votes are being cannibalized, I think we are locking in a TON of low-info / usually un-engaged votes ahead of time. Texas in particular is making me very optimistic. Also hoping that David Perdue just shot himself in the foot yesterday by deciding that mocking Kamala’s name was a good idea. What a fucking moron, especially for someone who used to work for an Indian company.

    It’s hard to be unengaged when there is a death dealing pandemic. The fact that the federal govt has had no messaging since August shows that the govt plans to do nothing.

    I understand that the danger is now finally hitting McConnell – (may a thousand mosquitoes infect his extremities – albeit he’d probably like it) and now wants to take up COVID. But it’s too damn fucking late to save the perception.

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    @JMG: Have you typed Crashman06 anywhere lately?  Guessing that it accidentally ended up in the nym field

    There is also something different in the email field of this comment and the one above.

    Or maybe you were just making a joke?

  27. 27.

    cain

    @trollhattan:

    I do not understand that woman at all – she literally wants to die on the hill of party comity towards Republicans. That display was pathetic and has enraged all of us.

    She needs to go – not because she’s 87 years old but that she can’t seem to understand situational awareness and she needs to leave if she can’t understand what is happening and what is at stake.

  28. 28.

    MisterForkbeard

    @WaterGirl: I’m willing to believe there was an assumption that ballot printing and mailing couldn’t be fucked up unless the company was completely incompetent. And didn’t think anyone would ratfuck them like this.

    But seriously, it takes work to screw this up. You have a list of names and addresses supplied by the state. You have a ballot for each county. You match one to the other and mail them out. It’s work, but it’s not difficult. This level of fuckup is really impressive and indicates total incompetence OR shenanigans.

  29. 29.

    Sab

    @cain: If she lived anywhere but San Francisco she would have started out as a moderate Republican and we wouldn’t ever have been surprised by her.

  30. 30.

    JMG

    @WaterGirl: The number of things I have typed/hit by accident on my laptop approaches infinity, but this isn’t one of ’em. Entirely new handle as far as I’m concerned. It’s no big deal, just very weird.

  32. 32.

    patrick Il

    @WaterGirl:

    The things I don’t know. How do the heads of committee get selected? Purely seniority ? Is Schumer automatically the Senate Minority or Majority Leader?

    When are they selected? Would phone calls to our Democratic  Senators make a difference ?  Should we organize/ encourage phone calls? should we have a state of  Balloon juice  preffered chairs ?

    If not Feinstein, then who ? Let ‘s have apositive alternative.

  35. 35.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @cain: Oh, she’s been like this forever.  I can remember being enraged with her voting for GWB’s unacceptable nominees requiring Senate confirmation because “a president should be allowed his choices” even when they are terrible and the election was stolen.  I’ve been voting against her in Dem primaries for 2 cycles now but it hasn’t done any good. Sigh. Even as mayor of SF she was notably moderate and in league with downtown development forces

    I agree with another poster that she may have been a moderate Repub anywhere else, although, being Jewish, then again, maybe not.

  36. 36.

    JoyceH

    Is anyone else alarmed at how quickly the pandemic numbers are going bad? I knew to expect a fall surge, but it seems to be developing very bad and very fast. I’ve decided to just cocoon until at least the spring, going to spend the holidays on my own, maybe some zooming with family. The only upside I can see is that after Nov 3, at least Trump won’t be holding superspreader events all over the country.

  38. 38.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @JoyceH: Yeah, I usually fly to spend Thanksgiving with my cousin and her family, and this year it just doesn’t seem like a good idea. Sigh.

  39. 39.

    JMS

    We had been very stressed about getting our Pa mail in ballots after all of the nonsense that has been going on. They finally arrived today, so within a half hour we had filled them out and driven to a drop box location. There was a decent line just to put our (clothed) ballots in the  box, but the line moved quickly and the poll workers even handed out “I voted” stickers. So that’s done!

  43. 43.

    PaulWartenberg

    Here’s another P for you, as in PT Cruiser: those Michigan militia cosplayers plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan relied on them driving a PT Cruiser as their getaway car.

    …

    …

    Look, I once owned a PT Cruiser myself. Bought it in 2002. I loved the car, I loved the look, I didn’t need it for much besides driving to and from work. I will admit it was a weak engine, very underpowered, but it had legroom (I am long-legged) to spare and it cruised along (befitting the name) at a decent speed once it got going.

    Even I would tell you, the PT Cruiser is the WORST possible vehicle to use in a high-stakes kidnapping. There’s almost no room for extra passengers or storage, you can’t armor-plate (would slow you down more) it, you wouldn’t out-race any police chaser when the top speed on that thing was like 70 MPH. This is stupid. What the fuck were those brain-dead morans thinking?!

    And now I gotta go pack up all my PT Cruiser die-cast models I collected over the years. YOU BROKE MY HEART, WINGNUTS. YOU BROKE IT FOREVER!!!

    /cries

  45. 45.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Good morning all (still am on the west coast). Really enjoying the post & comments. It has everything from links to great ads to nym/post mysteries to slapstick kidnap capers!

     

    Please, carry on!

    ETA: am = a.m.

    (and I don’t mean to make fun of the terror intended or experienced behind the kidnap plan)

  46. 46.

    Timurid

    I voted today in Louisiana. It took about 40 minutes. Of course this is a deep red state, so all of the votes I cast in the major races (President, one House seat and one Senate seat) were pretty much shouts into the void. At least there were a couple of ballot initiatives that might end up being close…

  47. 47.

    WaterGirl

    @Alison Rose: When I was looking for a good link to include with this post, I did run across something that listed the various ways to watch it, but I didn’t save the link.

    Try googling something like “watch pete souza the way I see it”.  I think I started my googling with something like that.

  50. 50.

    MazeDancer

    Yes, every Illustrated Voting Plan is custom-crafted, handmade, and completely different.

    Have about 10 more to finish from those of you who made the 10/15 deadline. But if you really, really want one of your own, mention it in this thread. I can be persuaded.

    Retweeting could not be easier. Click on a nym in the sidebar. This will take you to the PostCard Patriots Twitter account. Click the RT icon. Done.

    (Rinse, repeat 198 times. Soon to be 202.)

    Great armchair activism. You never know how many people you will inspire. Excellent stress-diverting activity while watching news or listening to podcasts.

    And it is great fun to see how other BJ’ers voted or plan to vote.

    And next week, will have more “Act Now” type illustrations urging people to sign their ballots. And how to vote in person, early or otherwise.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    @PaulWartenberg: My brother-in-law got a PT cruiser to go back and forth to work, and I have very fond memories of cruising in the cruiser, music turned up loud, having fun in the summertime.

    Edit: where were you with that “P” when I was putting the post together? :-)

  55. 55.

    Sab

    @WaterGirl: Thanks. I missed Kay’s rants this morning. I just went back and read them.

    Fun fact. In Summit County (Akron) one of the three Board of Elections members is brother of our county prosecutor.

    The absentee ballot situation is a mess, but in person voting has been really well run. It took us 50 minutes to vote.

    In 2000 I waited in line on voting day for 45 minutes at the poll. That’s where I first met my husband.

  57. 57.

    RedDirtGirl

    I mailed my 480 VoteFWD letters this morning. Very satisfying. And saw so many others dropping theirs off. And then, walking home along the main drag of Park Slope in Brooklyn, I heard honking and motorcycle engines and thought, Fuck me, a Trump parade. But they were Ridin’ with Biden! About 75 bikes, men and women, all with Biden signs and flags. It was amazing. Now I know you can’t get much bluer than my neighborhood, but it still felt great!

    I’ll be early voting in person, and then poll working on Election Day, and maybe another before then.

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    @Sab: I guess that’s the solution if you ballot doesn’t arrive soon… vote in person.

    Was it Obama who said recently that we should all have a voting plan, and also have a Plan B?  Could have been Barack, or Michelle, or someone else, but I took note of the “Plan B” for voting because I had not heard that before.

  62. 62.

    Alison Rose

    @WaterGirl: Yeah, I tried that, but everything is “start your free trial and then we’ll charge you eleventy-hundred dollars and you have to give us your credit card number now” kind of thing, which my broke ass is wary of.

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    @Alison Rose: Okay, I went back through my browsing history.  There was one place that was “free” but then $59.99.  um, no.

    But maybe the Hulu+ free trial wouldn’t be bad?

    The Way I See It is a documentary about former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza that makes its TV debut on MSNBC Friday, October 16, at 10 p.m. ET following The Rachel Maddow Show. You can also watch it on FuboTV, Slingor Hulu + Live (free trial).

  65. 65.

    trnc

    @patrick Il: If not Feinstein, then who ? Let ‘s have apositive alternative.

    Katie Porter, Jackie Spier and Eric Swalwell are the first ones who come to mind, but there’s a deep bench. Schiff would be great, but we might really benefit from him staying on as the intel chair for one more term, but Californians would be able to sort out the options.

  66. 66.

    Fair Economist

    @JoyceH:

    Is anyone else alarmed at how quickly the pandemic numbers are going bad? I knew to expect a fall surge, but it seems to be developing very bad and very fast.

    Yes, especially in view of how quickly and how badly things have turned in Europe. Things got worse over about a month and then BLAM blew past even the numbers from spring (although likely still fewer real cases because testing is better). IMO it’s schools + bars + carelessness and we’ve got mostly the same formula as they did, plus a higher baseline.

  67. 67.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Just got a notification (which I signed up for) that the ballot that I’d dropped off on the first day of voting has been received and verified. Given I live in CA I wasn’t expecting any shenanigans, and the delay was probably they were waiting for the drop box to fill in, but still a relief to know it’s going to be counted.

  68. 68.

    MazeDancer

    @WaterGirl: What – between the 175 things you do to keep the site rolling? (Insert Big Applause here.)

    You told me you were thinking of posting about plans this weekend. It’s still the weekend. Isn’t it?

  69. 69.

    NeenerNeener

    @Fair Economist: We seem to be doing worse than we were in April/May. In my county in the spring we averaged about 40 new cases a day, now we’ve jumped from 18/day in Sept to about 52/day in the matter of 3 weeks. That could be just because we’re able to test more now than we were in the spring, but it’s still a worrying trend. I really don’t want to go out but I can’t postpone the oil change on the car any longer; it’s been about 9 months now.

  70. 70.

    FelonyGovt

    I’m thinking that the early voting and absentee voters may be largely people who understand that there is a real pandemic going on and are concerned about crowds. Since people on our side tend to be more conscientious and realistic about Covid, I choose to believe that this is a really good sign.

    Magical thinking maybe but I have to get through the next few weeks somehow.

  71. 71.

    Kropacetic

    @Kropacetic:  Scratch that, website says town hall here is only short hours on the weekend for voting, open its’ usual hours M to F.  Even though it’s first day of early voting in MA, check you local town’s locations and hours.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @trnc: I think patrick II was talking about someone to replace Feinstein as D head of the judiciary committee.

    But I like your ideas for who to replace Feinstein with altogether.

  74. 74.

    MazeDancer

    @WaterGirl:

    @Alison Rose:

    You can get a free trial to any of the streaming services, among them Hulu Live, YouTubeTV, and Sling.

    They are all easy to cancel. Hulu a little more hidden, but they absolutely abide by their “won’t charge” dates. BUT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER TO CANCEL.

    Speak from extensive personal experience from when I cut the cord and went all mobile data. (Visible by Verizon, 40 bucks a month unlimited everything, Really. Currently at 169 GBs used, 7 days to go this month,)

    Would test YouTubeTV. Because Hulu live won’t stream on TV with just mobile data. Though, unless you have Apple TV, Amazon Fire Stick, Chromecast, or some kind of smart TV, you can’t stream on TV anyway.

    Go to search, “The Way I See It”, you’ll be viewing

    ETA: You must get Hulu Live to access any MSNBC. But it is completely unreliable unless you have DVR’d that show. They do not have next day access to MSNBC.

    Test YouTubeTV. Google can afford the test.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @FelonyGovt: Magical thinking + wine and chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven?

    I use TaMara’s chocolate chip recipe and let it sit in the fridge, then bake a cookie (or two or three) so I have a warm cookie for dessert.

    Chocolate is my “break glass in case of emergency” go-to.

  78. 78.

    JanieM

    @MazeDancer:

    @WaterGirl: What – between the 175 things you do to keep the site rolling? (Insert Big Applause here.)

    Seconding. I don’t quite see how there’s enough time in the day!

    And while I’m thanking front-pagers, let me add my deep appreciation and admiration for Anne Laurie’s now nine months’ worth of daily coronavirus roundups. I am better informed than anyone I know IRL, and that’s thanks to AL. It can also be frustrating when people spout stuff that I know is nonsense….but at least because of AL I have links to offer them!

  79. 79.

    Gary K

    How do I figure out when MSNBC is re-airing the Souza documentary? I’ve searched their site, but can’t find that info.

  81. 81.

    JMG

    @WaterGirl: OK, mystery solved. My original post is now entered several posts above Crashman06’s. When I first made my inquiry, it wasn’t there at all and I’ll go to my grave believing it was due to be post #21 (it’s now #16). I have no idea why or how this happened, but it’s all cool, and I apologize for any agita this little riddle may have caused you.

  85. 85.

    LuciaMia

     let it sit in the fridge, then bake a cookie (or two or three) so I have a warm cookie for dessert.

    That is genius. (No, Im not being sarcastic.)

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    @JMG: No problem!

    I’m just concerned if posts aren’t showing up right away.  sigh.

    If that ever happens, you can click on this link just above the comment box.

    If you don’t see both the Visual and the Text tab on the editor, click here to refresh.

    If you click that, it manually breaks cache, which is what the problem is if your comment does not show up right away.

    Just don’t click that after you have started typing a comment, because it makes the page reload (without cache) and you lose the comment you started.

  88. 88.

    KayInMd (formerly Kay(not the front-pager))

    Just stopping by to say that SenatorDoug Jones currently is up one point, 48%-47% in Alabama! I’m going broke, and I’m starting to feel like a compulsive gambler when I hit ActBlue, but I’m going to drop a little more in his kitty. Doug Jones is really good people, and if we can keep him in the Senate it would be a really good thing for the Senate and for the people of Alabama. Maybe balloon Doug could raise a little more for him? Maybe??

    Also my son’s second covid test came back negative, so whew! He’s not out of the woods yet, he’s in quarantine until Friday, and we’re still isolating & wearing masks in the house. But I feel like he’s over a hump, with no symptoms and 2 negative tests a week apart.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    @LuciaMia: One batch fits in 3 small containers.  If I am not having company (like now) then I usually have to put one of the well-sealed containers in the freezer, where it stays in good shape for up to 3 months.

    *full disclosure, that 3 month limit is theoretical.  there’s no way I have cookie dough in the freezer for 3 months.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    @dnfree: Like KayinMaryland said:

    Doug Jones is really good people, and if we can keep him in the Senate it would be a really good thing for the Senate and for the people of Alabama.

  99. 99.

    raven

    @Alison Rose:

    “YouTube TV comes with a free trial. When you start your free trial, YouTube TV will authorize your credit card with a small fee. Your financial institution will get an authorization request from us, and the fee will be reflected in your account. This authorization is required to make sure your credit card is active. This amount will be automatically removed from your account once we confirm the card is active (your financial institution can specify when this will happen). YouTube TV does not support purchases made with prepaid credit cards.

    Note: If you cancel during your free trial, you will lose access to YouTube TV (including any add-ons) immediately upon cancellation.”

  107. 107.

    VFX Lurker

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    Just got a notification (which I signed up for) that the ballot that I’d dropped off on the first day of voting has been received and verified. Given I live in CA I wasn’t expecting any shenanigans, and the delay was probably they were waiting for the drop box to fill in, but still a relief to know it’s going to be counted.

    I live in Los Angeles County. I dropped my ballot into a secure county dropbox on Oct 4th, but 48-hour pickups didn’t start until Oct 7. I received my “ballot received” notice on Oct 9.

    Given the unprecedented rate of ballot returns in CA (3 million as of today), it’s possible your ballot made it to its destination days ago but your “ballot received” notice was delayed. Glad you finally received that notice, though!!!

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